Kolkata travel agent arrested for Rs 3.96 lakh fraud

The accused would entice customers with promises of 30 to 40-per cent discounts. Representational picture

The Bangur Nagar Link Road police have arrested a 35-year-old Kolkata-based travel agent from Mira Road who allegedly defrauded a Mumbai-based travel agency of Rs 3.96 lakh.

According to police sources, the accused somehow obtained the user ID and password of the travel agency and booked numerous domestic air tickets, selling them to customers at significantly discounted rates. During the investigation, it was discovered that there were other individuals who had also used the company's user ID and password to sell over 44 domestic air tickets in recent months.

The incident came to light when the agency conducted an audit and discovered that more than 44 domestic air tickets, valued at Rs 3.96 lakh, had been fraudulently booked and issued to customers. Sameer Kapadia, the owner of "Miles and Smiles Travel Agency," lodged a complaint, leading to the registration of the case on April 27 under various sections of the IPC and IT Act.

The travel agency had authorisation from various airlines to book flight tickets using their respective logging IDs. While reviewing the ticket records for Indigo Airlines, they discovered that three tickets, worth approximately Rs 82,000, had been fraudulently booked. Upon contacting the customers, they revealed that they had booked the tickets through someone named "Raja" from "Trans World Company" in Kolkata.

Further investigation revealed that 44 air tickets had been fraudulently booked using the user ID of Kapadia's travel company. Kapadia reported the matter to the Bangur Nagar Link Road police. Anup Prasad, 35, the owner of "Transworld Company" in Kolkata, was arrested by API Vivek Tambe, who heads the Cyber Unit in Mira Road. Prasad was in Mira Road for some personal work.

Although the accused obtained the user ID of the complainant's travel agency, they were unable to access the booked tickets unless someone sent them via WhatsApp or email. However, the accused had also discovered a method to download tickets from the airline's website using the customer's surname and date of birth if they could not obtain the tickets from the agency.

During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused would entice customers with promises of discounted rates and sell airline tickets under the guise of offering 30 to 40 per cent discounts. The police are currently investigating whether Prasad was solely responsible for selling all 44 tickets or if other individuals were involved. Prasad was arrested and presented in court.